3rd House Journal: Palace of Love

[Contemporary sculpture by Calcutta-born, Brooklyn-based artist Rina Banerjee]

“Entitled Take me, Take me, Take me . . . to the Palace of Love, the piece is a 19 foot high “building” in the form of the Taj Mahal. The steel frame wrapped in pink plastic wrap evokes a view of India through rose-tinted glasses--a view that characterized the colonial British presence in India.” (from the PEM)

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Yesterday I went to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, meeting up with birthday-girl Lorianne and her friend A (not her real initial). We didn’t have much time since we arrived late and the museum closes at 5pm, so we missed the Taj Mahal exhibit, “exploring the architecture and mystique” of the site. Maybe next time. We did, however, get lured immediately into the “palace of love” installed in the atrium through February. Who could resist such an invitation? Certainly not three single gals on a Friday afternoon spree. Alas, the romance turned into so much pink plastic wrapping, and no single men in sight under the age of 94 or over 2 1/2. Romance had to wait until I got home – yes, Don Luis was waiting for me, on my taped telenovela.

Next up: teatime. The Artful Teapot is a collection of 250 teapots, from elegantly designed but functional to utterly fanciful, serene to silly, and yes, sublime to ridiculous. (Come to think of it, reminds me of my telenovela.) Many of the teapots made me think of Alice in Wonderland’s tea party. Fun exhibit. Before we left we also checked out the Owls in Art and Nature exhibit, some of which was, pardon me, a hoot. But as the quote on the wall said, “If you want to soar with the eagles in the morning…you can’t hoot with the owls all night.” Well, who cares about soaring with the eagles when you’re celebrating a birthday? Yes, the real event, for which the museum visit was simply a convenient excuse, was to ~~get Lorianne all liquored up~~ go to Cilantro and enjoy some great margaritas. They did not disappoint. (See Lorianne's post for more.)